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THOMAS
,
EVAN LORIMER
(
1872
-
1953
),
priest and scholar
.

Born
21 Feb. 1872
, son of
David WalterThomas
,
vicar
of
St. Ann
,
Llandygái, Caerns.
, and his wife
Anna
(‘
Morfudd Eryri
’)
. He was educated at
Westminster School
and
Jesus College
,
Oxford
. Like his father, he was a scholar of his college. He was trained for holy orders in the
Clerical School
,
Leeds
. He served as
curate
of
St. Mary's
,
Bangor
,
1897-98
,
Wrexham
,
1898-1900
,
Cuddesdon, Oxon.
,
1901-02
, and
Colwyn Bay
,
1902-03
. He m.
MaryRice-Williams
,
Holyhead
in
1903
and they had a son.

In
1903
he became
Professor of Welsh
at
St. David's College
,
Lampeter
. There he
made every effort to ensure the position of the Welsh language in the curriculum and in the life of the college
. He revived the honours course in
Welsh
,
established a Welsh Library
which included the
Cenarth Collection
which was bought by the college in
1904
, and for the sake of the
Welsh
students he began
Cymdeithas y Brythoniaid
, a society which met every other Saturday evening in his house with not a word of
English
spoken. On Sunday afternoons he
held a Welsh Bible class
for the students. He moved in
1915
to be
vicar
of
Holywell
, and in
1922
to a similar post in the parish of
Tywyn
,
Abergele
. He published Welsh commentaries on
St. Luke's Gospel
in
1920
and
1922
and on
1 Corinthians
in
1934
. He became
Archdeacon
of
Montgomery
and
vicar
of
Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain
in
1938
. He retired in
1944
and went to live in
Llanfairfechan
.

He was a gentle and firm man who found pleasure in all kinds of sport, particularly through
angling
and in
ornithology
. He d.
9 Apr. 1953
, and was buried in
St. Seiriol
's churchyard,
Holyhead
.